Long, long ago, in the time before time had fully settled into its rhythm, the world was a very different place. People lived without the gnawing sensation we now call hunger. They ate when they wished, not because their bodies demanded it, but simply because food was pleasant and gathering together for meals brought joy. There was no empty ache in the belly, no urgent need that made one irritable or weak. Life flowed peacefully, uninterrupted by the constant cycle of emptiness and fullness that we know today.
In those ancient days, there lived a woman named Tik. Like all people of her time, she went about her daily tasks with a lightness we can scarcely imagine now. One ordinary morning, Tik decided to collect firewood for her cooking fire. She took up her gathering tools and walked toward a familiar bush not far from her home, where dry branches were plentiful and easy to break.
The sun was warm on her shoulders as she made her way through the landscape. She knew every path, every tree, every rock in this area near her dwelling. But as she approached a dry pond one of those shallow depressions where water once pooled during the rains but now lay empty except for the tough grass that grew around its edges something unusual caught her eye.
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Tik stopped in her tracks, her breath catching in her throat. There, near the dried pond bed, lay something she had never seen before. It was a pinkish object, flat and round, unlike anything in her experience. But what truly startled her was not merely its appearance, it was what the thing was doing.
The strange, round object was actively cutting the grass that grew at the pond’s edge. As Tik watched in amazement, it methodically sliced through the tough blades and then, in a motion both fascinating and peculiar, rolled the cut grass into itself. The grass simply disappeared into the pinkish form, blade after blade, in a steady, purposeful rhythm.
Woman’s curiosity overcame her initial shock. She moved closer, studying this bizarre creature with wonder and concern. What manner of being was this? Why was it consuming grass in such a strange way? Her maternal instincts stirred the thing seemed small and alone, vulnerable in its strangeness.
“Why are you doing this, my child?” Tik asked gently, her voice carrying both curiosity and kindness.
The round object paused in its work. When it spoke, its voice was clear and matter-of-fact, neither friendly nor hostile, simply honest. “I am eating,” it replied. The creature called itself Yäc, the Stomach.
Tik considered this answer. She looked at the dry grass, tough and unappetizing even to goats who would eat almost anything. Surely there must be something better for this strange child to consume.
“Is there nothing else you can eat?” she asked, her concern deepening.
“Nothing,” Yäc responded simply. There was no complaint in its tone, no self-pity, just a plain statement of fact. This was what it ate. This was what it had always eaten. This was all it knew.
Tik’s heart softened. What kind of existence was this, alone by a dried pond, eating only tough grass to survive? She made a decision that would change the course of all human experience, though she could not have known it at the time.
“Then I will take you home to feed you,” Tik declared. She would give this strange being better food, proper nourishment, a place of safety and care.
Yäc’s response came immediately, and for the first time, there was something like eagerness in its voice. “I am happy. I will go with you to your home.”
When Tik bent down to pick up Yäc, something unexpected happened. The moment her hands made contact with the pinkish, round form, Yäc moved with swift purpose. It coiled itself onto Tik’s belly, wrapping around her middle, and then before she could react or reconsider, it lodged itself firmly against her. She could feel it there, attached, unmovable, as though it had found exactly where it was meant to be all along.
Tik was startled but not frightened. She had invited this creature into her care, after all. She made her way back home, aware of Yäc’s presence on her body, wondering what would come of this strange adoption. The firewood she had meant to gather was forgotten in light of this extraordinary encounter.
When Tik arrived at her home, she expected to settle into her normal routine and perhaps prepare something special for her unusual new companion. But almost immediately, something began to happen. Yäc started to prick her from the inside. Sharp little jabs, not quite painful but deeply uncomfortable, created a sensation Tik had never experienced before. It was a blunt, insistent pain that demanded attention, that could not be ignored.
Confused and distressed, Tik addressed Yäc. “Why are you hurting me?” she asked. “I brought you home to care for you, not to cause me pain.”
Yäc’s answer was as simple and direct as all its previous responses had been. “I want to eat,” it said.
Understanding dawned on Tik. This was how Yäc communicated its needs through this uncomfortable pricking sensation. She quickly gathered food and began to eat. The moment the first bite entered her mouth and traveled downward, the pain disappeared completely. Relief flooded through her. Yäc was satisfied, at least for now.
But this was not to be a single occurrence. As time passed, Tik discovered the new pattern of her existence. Whenever Yäc wanted food and it wanted food often it would simply prick her insides with that same insistent discomfort. The sensation would grow and grow until she could think of nothing else but the need to eat. She would have to stop whatever she was doing, find food, and consume it to feed Yäc and make the pricking stop.
What Tik had thought was an act of kindness rescuing a strange, helpless creature from a life of eating grass by a dried pond had permanently altered her body and her life. Yäc had found its true home inside her, and it would never leave. The pricking sensation, that blunt and demanding pain, became a constant companion.
And so it has been ever since that fateful day. From Tik, the condition spread to all people. Now every human carries Yäc within them, the Stomach that must be fed, that pricks us from inside when it needs nourishment, that will not be ignored or denied. We call that pricking sensation hunger, and it governs our days, our planning, our labor, and our rest.
This is why people become hungry. Because long ago, Woman met Stomach by a dried pond and brought it home out of kindness, never imagining that some acts of compassion change everything forever.
The Moral Lesson
This Dinka folktale teaches us that acts of kindness, while well-intentioned, can have permanent and unexpected consequences. Tik’s compassion for the struggling Stomach transformed the human condition forever, introducing the cycle of hunger that now drives much of human activity. The story reminds us that we cannot always foresee the outcomes of our choices, and that even benevolent actions can fundamentally alter our lives. It also explains a universal human experience hunger as something that entered our world through a specific moment of contact between human compassion and natural need.
Knowledge Check
Q1: Who is Tik in this Dinka folktale and what was she doing when she encountered Yäc?
A: Tik is the Woman in this story, representing the first human to experience hunger. She was collecting firewood near her home when she discovered Yäc, the Stomach, eating grass by a dried pond. Her decision to help this strange creature would change human existence forever.
Q22: What was Yäc doing when Tik first found it, and why did this concern her?
A: Yäc was cutting and eating the tough grass that grew around the edges of a dry pond. Tik was concerned because the grass seemed like poor nourishment, prompting her to ask if there was nothing else Yäc could eat. When Yäc replied that there was nothing else, Tik’s compassion led her to bring it home to feed it properly.
Q3: How did Yäc attach itself to Tik and where did it position itself?
A: When Tik picked up Yäc to carry it home, the Stomach coiled itself onto Tik’s belly and lodged itself firmly there. This physical attachment represents how the stomach became an internal organ within humans, a permanent part of the human body.
Q4: What is the significance of the “pricking” sensation in this origin story?
A: The pricking sensation that Yäc creates inside Tik represents the feeling of hunger. This discomfort, described as a blunt pain, signals when the stomach needs food. The story explains that this pricking which we now call hunger pangs is how the stomach communicates its need for nourishment, and it can only be relieved by eating.
Q5: What does this Dinka folktale explain about the human condition before Tik’s encounter with Yäc?
A: The folktale establishes that before Tik brought Yäc home, there was no hunger in the world. People ate when they wished for enjoyment, not out of physical necessity or bodily demand. This story serves as an origin myth explaining how hunger became a fundamental part of human experience.
Q6: What is the cultural significance of origin stories like this in Dinka tradition?
A: Origin stories in Dinka culture, like many African oral traditions, serve to explain natural phenomena and universal human experiences through narrative. This tale about hunger’s beginning helps the community understand their daily experience of needing food as part of a larger story about human nature, compassion, and the consequences of our actions.
Source: Dinka folktale, South Sudan (retold and translated from Dinka by Atem Yaak Atem)
